This invention relates to new and useful improvements in a guide and support member for cutting torches, wire welders, and the like.
Various types of guides and supports have heretofore been provided for the purpose of guiding and moving tools such as cutting torches along a line to be cut. Many torch operators use a burning square but this type of guide is not entirely satisfactory because considerable dexterity and guesswork are required for cutting along a line. Also, this type of guide does not control the spacing between the torch tip and the workpiece and tips thus are frequently melted. Some previous guides and tip structures or attachments have been proposed, but such guides or attachments do not possess a combination of all the desired features, namely, of being simplified in structure, of being readily adaptable to and mountable on most existing torch tips, of being capable of controlling the height of the tip above the work piece, of being operable substantially friction free, and of being capable of positioning a guide member for location of the burning tip on precisely a line to be cut.